Confederates. In a matter of minutes, VMI suffered fifty-five casualties with another five cadets killed in action; the cadets were led into battle by the Commandant of Cadets and future VMI Superintendent Colonel Scott Shipp. Shipp was also wounded during the battle.
The VMI battalion (of infantry and artillery) received an institutional battle streamer for its part in the battle of New Market, one of only five American institutions to be awarded such an honor.
===== List of cadet deaths =====
Five cadets were killed in action on May 15:
In addition, five of those wounded in the battle later died of their wounds:
Another cadet, William D. Buster, died of typhoid while on service in Richmond in April 1865.
==== Burning of the Institute ====
On June 12, 1864, a month after New Market, Union forces, under the command of General David Hunter, shelled and burned the Institute as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864. The museum was also destroyed (but was later reopened in 1870). The destruction of the buildings …
